We have assembled to repeat the public ceremonial, begun by Washington,
observed by all my predecessors, and now a time- honored custom, which
marks the commencement of a new term of the Presidential office. Called
to the duties of this great trust, I proceed, in compliance with usage,
to announce some of the leading principles, on the subjects that now chiefly
engage the public attention, by which it is my desire to be guided in the
discharge of those duties. I shall not undertake to lay down irrevocably
principles or measures of administration, but rather to speak of the motives
which should animate us, and to suggest certain important ends to be attained
in accordance with our institutions and essential to the welfare of our
country.

At the outset of the discussions which preceded the recent Presidential
election it seemed to me fitting that I should fully make known my sentiments
in regard to several of the important questions which then appeared to
demand the consideration of the country. Following the example, and in
part adopting the language, of one of my predecessors, I wish now, when
every motive for misrepresentation has passed away, to repeat what was
said before the election, trusting that my countrymen will candidly weigh
and understand it, and that they will feel assured that the sentiments
declared in accepting the nomination for the Presidency will be the standard
of my conduct in the path before me, charged, as I now am, with the grave
and difficult task of carrying them out in the practical administration
of the Government so far as depends, under the Constitution and laws on
the Chief Executive of the nation.

The permanent pacification of the country upon such principles and by
such measures as will secure the complete protection of all its citizens
in the free enjoyment of all their constitutional rights is now the one
subject in our public affairs which all thoughtful and patriotic citizens
regard as of supreme importance.

Many of the calamitous efforts of the tremendous revolution which has
passed over the Southern States still remain. The immeasurable benefits
which will surely follow, sooner or later, the hearty and generous acceptance
of the legitimate results of that revolution have not yet been realized.
Difficult and embarrassing questions meet us at the threshold of this subject.
The people of those States are still impoverished, and the inestimable
blessing of wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government is not fully
enjoyed. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the cause of this
condition of things, the fact is clear that in the progress of events the
time has come when such government is the imperative necessity required
by all the varied interests, public and private, of those States. But it
must not be forgotten that only a local government which recognizes and
maintains inviolate the rights of all is a true self-government.

With respect to the two distinct races whose peculiar relations to each
other have brought upon us the deplorable complications and perplexities
which exist in those States, it must be a government which guards the interests
of both races carefully and equally. It must be a government which submits
loyally and heartily to the Constitution and the laws--the laws of the
nation and the laws of the States themselves--accepting and obeying faithfully
the whole Constitution as it is.

Resting upon this sure and substantial foundation, the superstructure
of beneficent local governments can be built up, and not otherwise. In
furtherance of such obedience to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution,
and in behalf of all that its attainment implies, all so-called party interests
lose their apparent importance, and party lines may well be permitted to
fade into insignificance. The question we have to consider for the immediate
welfare of those States of the Union is the question of government or no
government; of social order and all the peaceful industries and the happiness
that belongs to it, or a return to barbarism. It is a question in which
every citizen of the nation is deeply interested, and with respect to which
we ought not to be, in a partisan sense, either Republicans or Democrats,
but fellow-citizens and fellowmen, to whom the interests of a common country
and a common humanity are dear.

The sweeping revolution of the entire labor system of a large portion
of our country and the advance of 4,000,000 people from a condition of
servitude to that of citizenship, upon an equal footing with their former
masters, could not occur without presenting problems of the gravest moment,
to be dealt with by the emancipated race, by their former masters, and
by the General Government, the author of the act of emancipation. That
it was a wise, just, and providential act, fraught with good for all concerned,
is not generally conceded throughout the country. That a moral obligation
rests upon the National Government to employ its constitutional power and
influence to establish the rights of the people it has emancipated, and
to protect them in the enjoyment of those rights when they are infringed
or assailed, is also generally admitted.

The evils which afflict the Southern States can only be removed or remedied
by the united and harmonious efforts of both races, actuated by motives
of mutual sympathy and regard; and while in duty bound and fully determined
to protect the rights of all by every constitutional means at the disposal
of my Administration, I am sincerely anxious to use every legitimate influence
in favor of honest and efficient local self-government as the true resource
of those States for the promotion of the contentment and prosperity of
their citizens. In the effort I shall make to accomplish this purpose I
ask the cordial cooperation of all who cherish an interest in the welfare
of the country, trusting that party ties and the prejudice of race will
be freely surrendered in behalf of the great purpose to be accomplished.
In the important work of restoring the South it is not the political situation
alone that merits attention. The material development of that section of
the country has been arrested by the social and political revolution through
which it has passed, and now needs and deserves the considerate care of
the National Government within the just limits prescribed by the Constitution
and wise public economy.

But at the basis of all prosperity, for that as well as for every other
part of the country, lies the improvement of the intellectual and moral
condition of the people. Universal suffrage should rest upon universal
education. To this end, liberal and permanent provision should be made
for the support of free schools by the State governments, and, if need
be, supplemented by legitimate aid from national authority.

Let me assure my countrymen of the Southern States that it is my earnest
desire to regard and promote their truest interest--the interests of the
white and of the colored people both and equally--and to put forth my best
efforts in behalf of a civil policy which will forever wipe out in our
political affairs the color line and the distinction between North and
South, to the end that we may have not merely a united North or a united
South, but a united country.

I ask the attention of the public to the paramount necessity of reform
in our civil service--a reform not merely as to certain abuses and practices
of so-called official patronage which have come to have the sanction of
usage in the several Departments of our Government, but a change in the
system of appointment itself; a reform that shall be thorough, radical,
and complete; a return to the principles and practices of the founders
of the Government. They neither expected nor desired from public officers
any partisan service. They meant that public officers should owe their
whole service to the Government and to the people. They meant that the
officer should be secure in his tenure as long as his personal character
remained untarnished and the performance of his duties satisfactory. They
held that appointments to office were not to be made nor expected merely
as rewards for partisan services, nor merely on the nomination of members
of Congress, as being entitled in any respect to the control of such appointments.

The fact that both the great political parties of the country, in declaring
their principles prior to the election, gave a prominent place to the subject
of reform of our civil service, recognizing and strongly urging its necessity,
in terms almost identical in their specific import with those I have here
employed, must be accepted as a conclusive argument in behalf of these
measures. It must be regarded as the expression of the united voice and
will of the whole country upon this subject, and both political parties
are virtually pledged to give it their unreserved support.

The President of the United States of necessity owes his election to
office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political party, the members
of which cherish with ardor and regard as of essential importance the principles
of their party organization; but he should strive to be always mindful
of the fact that he serves his party best who serves the country best.

In furtherance of the reform we seek, and in other important respects
a change of great importance, I recommend an amendment to the Constitution
prescribing a term of six years for the Presidential office and forbidding
a reelection.

With respect to the financial condition of the country, I shall not
attempt an extended history of the embarrassment and prostration which
we have suffered during the past three years. The depression in all our
varied commercial and manufacturing interests throughout the country, which
began in September, 1873, still continues. It is very gratifying, however,
to be able to say that there are indications all around us of a coming
change to prosperous times.

Upon the currency question, intimately connected, as it is, with this
topic, I may be permitted to repeat here the statement made in my letter
of acceptance, that in my judgment the feeling of uncertainty inseparable
from an irredeemable paper currency, with its fluctuation of values, is
one of the greatest obstacles to a return to prosperous times. The only
safe paper currency is one which rests upon a coin basis and is at all
times and promptly convertible into coin.

I adhere to the views heretofore expressed by me in favor of Congressional
legislation in behalf of an early resumption of specie payments, and I
am satisfied not only that this is wise, but that the interests, as well
as the public sentiment, of the country imperatively demand it.

Passing from these remarks upon the condition of our own country to
consider our relations with other lands, we are reminded by the international
complications abroad, threatening the peace of Europe, that our traditional
rule of noninterference in the affairs of foreign nations has proved of
great value in past times and ought to be strictly observed.

The policy inaugurated by my honored predecessor, President Grant, of
submitting to arbitration grave questions in dispute between ourselves
and foreign powers points to a new, and incomparably the best, instrumentality
for the preservation of peace, and will, as I believe, become a beneficent
example of the course to be pursued in similar emergencies by other nations.

If, unhappily, questions of difference should at any time during the
period of my Administration arise between the United States and any foreign
government, it will certainly be my disposition and my hope to aid in their
settlement in the same peaceful and honorable way, thus securing to our
country the great blessings of peace and mutual good offices with all the
nations of the world.

Fellow-citizens, we have reached the close of a political contest marked
by the excitement which usually attends the contests between great political
parties whose members espouse and advocate with earnest faith their respective
creeds. The circumstances were, perhaps, in no respect extraordinary save
in the closeness and the consequent uncertainty of the result.

For the first time in the history of the country it has been deemed
best, in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case, that the objections
and questions in dispute with reference to the counting of the electoral
votes should be referred to the decision of a tribunal appointed for this
purpose.

That tribunal--established by law for this sole purpose; its members,
all of them, men of long-established reputation for integrity and intelligence,
and, with the exception of those who are also members of the supreme judiciary,
chosen equally from both political parties; its deliberations enlightened
by the research and the arguments of able counsel--was entitled to the
fullest confidence of the American people. Its decisions have been patiently
waited for, and accepted as legally conclusive by the general judgment
of the public. For the present, opinion will widely vary as to the wisdom
of the several conclusions announced by that tribunal. This is to be anticipated
in every instance where matters of dispute are made the subject of arbitration
under the forms of law. Human judgment is never unerring, and is rarely
regarded as otherwise than wrong by the unsuccessful party in the contest.

The fact that two great political parties have in this way settled a
dispute in regard to which good men differ as to the facts and the law
no less than as to the proper course to be pursued in solving the question
in controversy is an occasion for general rejoicing.

Upon one point there is entire unanimity in public sentiment--that conflicting
claims to the Presidency must be amicably and peaceably adjusted, and that
when so adjusted the general acquiescence of the nation ought surely to
follow.

It has been reserved for a government of the people, where the right
of suffrage is universal, to give to the world the first example in history
of a great nation, in the midst of the struggle of opposing parties for
power, hushing its party tumults to yield the issue of the contest to adjustment
according to the forms of law.

Looking for the guidance of that Divine Hand by which the destinies
of nations and individuals are shaped, I call upon you, Senators, Representatives,
judges, fellow-citizens, here and everywhere, to unite w

ith me in an earnest effort to secure to our country the blessings,
not only of material prosperity, but of justice, peace, and union--a union
depending not upon the constraint of force, but upon the loving devotion
of a free people; "and that all things may be so ordered and settled upon
the best and surest foundations that peace and happiness, truth and justice,
religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations."